Unchaining Comparative Education. The Construction of “Educated Identities” over Time and Space

On the basis of Robert Cowen’s inspirations, the article questions the oft hidden epistemological foundations of internationally established comparative research, which assume the existence of nation-states. In doing so, it takes up Cowen’s suggestion to start from “unit ideas” that are in turn at the mercy of historically transformative processes, namely those of the nation-state, the school system/curriculum and the educated identity. On the one hand, this shows that spatial comparisons have little informative value if the historical character of these fluid constructions is not taken into account. On the other hand, it also becomes clear that politically motivated constructions of educated identities already existed in the pre-nationalistic era, namely patriots. This configuration of an educated identity was itself based on comparison, not in terms of space but in terms of time with reference to antiquity, and it placed virtue at its center, which was understood as love of the (free) fatherland and the common good.